


Cycles: A Period of Change

by MistralSoul



Series: Cycles [1]
Category: Digimon Frontier
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, Gen, Post-Canon, its my job, sorry im just making Takuya suffer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25556905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistralSoul/pseuds/MistralSoul
Summary: Takuya didn't mean to do this. He just wanted to go to Izumi's birthday party like everyone else. He didn't mean to run into Lucemon and have to defeat him again. He didn't mean to do it without his friends.And yet the world said he had to. The world hates him, so he'll fight back. Whether that meant by himself or with the help of others, he would do anything to save the world that was his home away from home. The world that meant so much to him.
Series: Cycles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851997
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Cycles: A Period of Change

**Author's Note:**

> It's funny, this fic is about 6 years old? And was posted about a year ago under a different name under a different account before bad memories made me move here. And I conceived this fic about *exactly* 6 years ago, but made some major overhauls? I'll get into them more indepth next chapter though, because that's when everything that changes changes. But I hope you enjoy this fic I finally got around to posting!

Takuya slips into the train just before the doors close, sighing as he realizes just how close of a call that was. It was Izumi's birthday today, and he was almost late for it, something Kouji would've told him was "typical" of him. Okay, Takuya _sorta_ understood it, but at the same time there was _zero_ need to make that a characteristic of his. So what if he was late? That was just a one time thing! …That happened over the span of multiple occasions. But it wasn't a trait!

The train pulls into the next stop and Takuya moves to the middle of the train cart and takes out his phone with his free hand. He maneuvers to his individual texts with Izumi. Chuckling a little to himself, he starts his tradition of sending Izumi a _very_ annoying birthday text.

" _yo!_

_hope you enjoy that sweet sweet senior discount they give you at the amusement parks cause i aint paying for you though idk how much youll be able to enjoy at this age_

_happy bday anyways guess 13 isnt all so special_ _"_

Takuya laughs to himself, that was probably the best one yet. It was much harder to work with ages eleven and twelve - there wasn't much difference there between their ages. But thirteen? There were more jokes where that came from.

While he's busy thinking up more age jokes for Izumi, his phone vibrates twice with an envelope popping up showing him that he had two new messages. The first one was from Izumi.

" _Where's that money coming from, huh Takuya? Last I checked, you couldn't work so I guess I win this time v^^_

_Being 13 has perks like more allowance and I_ _'m_ _d e f i n i t e l y_ _not sharing mine with you"_

Drat, foiled again. He completely forgot that allowances were a thing. With a quick text back reading "whatever I still have the last move" (which was in reference to the gift he got her) he maneuvers over to the second text he got notified of. This one was from Kouji - the proper punctuation of the text giving it away before the content did.

" _Kouichi and I might be late, just a heads up."_

Takuya smiles to himself. Oh, so he _wasn_ _'t_ going to be the latest on there, and to make things better, it was _Kouji_ who was going to be late, oh this was absolutely perfect. As the train announces the next stop - which still wasn't his stop - Takuya moves over to his private texts with Kouji.

" _calls me mr. late and yet is late himself isn't there a word for that"_

" _Irony. Learn some vocab before insulting me."_ Kouji responds.

" _yeah yeah whatever whats up why are you late"_

" _Unlike you I have a reason. I forgot to tell Mom it was Izumi's birthday I was going to and she wants to get her something before dropping us off."_

" _satomi or tomoko?"_ Takuya asks as the train announces his stop as the next stop. The twins moms hardly cared when referred to by first name, hence why he did it. Made it easier to differentiate between what Kouji does with his use of "mom" and "mother" which got even more confusing when Kouichi does the same but in reverse.

" _Satomi. Mother's working today."_

" _ah okay still youre late and ill be there on time heck yeah"_

" _Shut up"_

Once Takuya received that message, the doors to the train opened up, revealing his stop. He gets off the train and then takes one step before realizing something was horribly, horribly wrong.

There were no people around him at all. Everyone who had exited the train with him disappeared, leaving him in a very gray room with no sense of direction. He was in a void, that was certain. And the last time he was in a void…

Takuya whips out his phone to send a group text.

" _THIS IS SERIOUS - im just at the train station and im in a void? lucemon's back I know it he's back help please"_

"I don't want your friends, I just want _you_."

Takuya turns around, expecting to be face to face with Lucemon, but instead he's met with the grayness of the void and nothing else visual wise. Auditory wise, however, he gets met with a chuckle. A chuckle that filled the space and couldn't be pinpointed no matter how many directions Takuya turned and looked.

"Over here, I'm right where you want me."

Instinctively, Takuya turns his head backwards, but our of the corner of his eye he can make out Lucemon's child form, so he faces to the front and there it was, sitting cross-legged and upside down, acting as if nothing happened.

As if two years ago never happened.

"Do you want to play a game?" it asks with a devilish smile across its face - a smile too devilish for the form it took on., but Takuya knew not to be deceived. It was plenty capable of destroying in either form, it just depended on what mood it was in.

But they sealed it away, so why did it come back?

"I'm not playing," Takuya answers back, getting an immediate "bzzt" sound from Lucemon.

"Wrong answer," it says, floating sideways until it became upright. "Or would you like to see your friends be killed one by one?"

That sick little - "I'm _not playing_."

There was no way on earth _or_ the Digital World it was capable of doing what it said. They sealed it away, it couldn't come back at all. So why… Why was it here? Threatening the very lives of those Takuya held dear to him?

"My my, you're a difficult one, maybe I should have picked the one from before?"

It meant Kouichi… It was preying on the weak once more, and Takuya wasn't standing for it.

"We defeated you," Takuya says, the anger in his voice overflowing as Lucemon sits there, like a bored child at a birthday party not for his age group.

"Correction, you _weakened_ me. But the Digital World didn't run synchronous to the human world, I've had eons to muster up this form, and even then, my full strength doesn't even exist in liminal space at this moment. And yet I've thought of nothing but revenge for all those years. And thus this game I've come up with. Would you care for the rules?"

"I said I'm not playing."

"My dear Warrior of Fire, I guess I forgot to mention. There is no way out of this game, once you're chosen you're in it for the long haul. Unless you want me to destroy everything you hold dear and keep you alive, something I'm more than willing to do for you."

"You are _not_ hurting my friends," Takuya says, his voice strong and powerful like it was when he had Agnimon at his disposal. If he could just get his spirit and maybe evolve to Aldhamon… Maybe, maybe then he could do something.

"I want my revenge, and I will use any. Means. Necessary. But I suppose you're too weak to hurt your friends and survive without them. Pathetic, really. As for the game -"

"I just need to defeat you and I win, right? Then I'll play, I'll play your sick and twisted game."

With a "delightful" squeal, one that Takuya could only describe as deceiving, Lucemon claps its hands together. "I'll take you then, I'll take you to the world you saved and show you what true pain looks like."

Before he could even respond to the statement, Lucemon disappears and reappears behind him, arms wrapped around Takuya as if he was a child to be nursed. All while a world so bright and pure appeared in front of the void, a world Takuya didn't expect. No, the world was exactly like he expected, and yet Lucemon roams free throughout, carefree and _praised_. They're in a crowded area, almost exactly like the Autumn Leaf Fair of old and every Digimon recognizes Lucemon. Every last one of them. But as opposed to moving away out of fear or there being Digimon chasing after the two of them, every single Digimon they move pass _praises_ it. Every last one of them.

There was no way the Digital World could've changed to become like _this_.

But as Takuya was flown through the crowded streets, all flooded with Digimon either walking from their previous destination to current destination or walking into and out of buildings, they all stopped and asked. All of them. Stopped and praised. Acted like he was the real hero, when in reality it was all a lie. But the Digimon felt as real as they were the first time Takuya was here; this all couldn't be illusions.

There was no way.

"Oh Lucemon, can he come with me?" a Bearmon asks, stopping Lucemon in its tracks in front of an alleyway.

Lucemon, without letting go on its grip of Takuya, shakes its head. "I can't," it says as Takuya feels the grip loosen - Lucemon was used to talking with its hands, definitely not use to having to do without them - "we need more protectors of this world, and…"

Takuya stops listening. He looks in the alleyway, hoping there was some kind of escape route. Some way for him to get out of this mess. Lucemon's grip was already super loose on the left side, the side closest to the Bearmon and the alley. If he could just run and know for sure he could escape, then that's it. He would find the his spirits somehow and defeat Lucemon. Somehow. There had to be a way, there _had_ to be.

And that's when he saw _them_.

Takuya fights, nearly forcing Lucemon to tighten his grip as there's a response from the Bearmon, but Takuya manages to break free and nearly falls flat on his face from the landing that he immediately tried to run into, but he caught himself. One quick turn around as he disappears into the alleyway shows that Lucemon, probably in trying to keep up its facade, didn't know what to do - catch him or let him run. All Takuya heard was a "he's shy, he'll make his way back to me," from Lucemon, proving that its image couldn't have it go after random people. Random humans it "saved."

Leaving Takuya to find himself slowing down, trying to scowler all the corners of the dark hall, looking for the two of them.

"Please, I know you're there, come on, its me, Takuya," he says, knowing for sure they'd recognize that name. Because it's been two years - he was nearly thirteen now. His clothing tastes had changed completely - traded the cargo shorts for jeans, the red jacket for red flannel, and wore a plain yellow shirt instead. His goggles remained the same - but they where stowed away in the messenger bag he carried, and his backwards hat was replaced with a more neutral colored cap, trying its hardest to tame the hair he let do its thing because it was too much of a hassle to bother with it.

And as he expected, that name caused two Digimon to come out, two very small ones, but Digimon nonetheless. Takuya smiled and opened his arms as if they were level height to hug them, which they weren't, but the two ran forward and jumped up to receive the hug.

"Oh my humans really do evolve!" Bokomon says, only to get a weird look from Neemon in response.

"I think he said his name was Takuya? He didn't get a new name on us."

Takuya laughs as he puts them back on the floor so he wasn't carrying them the entire time. "Nah I'm still me, though I am a bit older."

"And the rest?" the two ask in unison.

Rubbing the back of his head, Takuya responds. "Well, they're fine if you're asking how are they - it's actually Izumi's birthday today! But as for where they are… I'm not sure."

"What's a birthday?" Neemon asks and Takuya expects the classic response to any question Neemon asks - a slap from the waistband that Bokomon always draws back - but instead Bokomon nods and expresses how he was thinking the same thing.

"A celebration of getting older, basically a day where you get presents and sweets to celebrate your existence."

"Is that why Izumi and the others couldn't come?" Neemon asks and _there_ was the slap Takuya was expecting.

"Watch what you're implying, dimwit!"

"No, not anywhere… close…" Takuya trails off. He rubs his arm and takes one glance out of the alleyway, noticing that there are no longer any Digimon standing directly in front of it anymore - including Lucemon who couldn't go after him - and instead the street was just filled with Digimon seeming to make their daily rounds.

Why was he the only one to come? Kouji, Kouichi, and Tomoki all got rides to Izumi's, and apparently Junpei lived close enough he could justify walking. Takuya was the only one who had to take that train, the same train they all took that day, because his parents were both busy working today. And yet, Takuya supposed that if Lucemon truly wanted, it could appear anywhere. So it could've appeared to any of those five, so why him? Was the train station…

"Are you okay?" Bokomon asks.

"That's what you look like all the time, Bokomon," Neemon says and immediately there's the snapping sound that Takuya was so accustomed to.

"Ah, no, it's just…" He places his fist over his chin. "I don't understand why Lucemon chose me."

At the sound of that, the two immediately perk up in fear.

"It… we can't talk about this here," Bokomon says while forcing Neemon to nod its head "We need to go somewhere safer, much safer than here. But we can't really walk out in the open like we used to."

"But where do we go?" Neemon asks and Bokomon scratches its head in response.

"That I do not know, nor do I know how to get out of here," Bokomon says, before taking one look at Takuya and its eyes landing right on his messenger bag. "But I think Takuya can help with that."

"Of course I can," Takuya says, opening his bag up, only to remember there was no space for anything else because of Izumi's gift. Something he wasn't willing to let go of because he still wanted to give it to her. He _was_ going to still give it to her. Besides, the last time he was in the Digital World, he missed only a second of real time. So he could definitely still make it to Izumi's in time…

It was just, carrying it would be weird. And he wasn't sure what he could do with it aside leave it, but that wasn't an option at all.

"Takuya?" Neemon asks and Takuya reluctantly takes out the gift in response.

"Oh? What's that?" Bokomon asks.

"Izumi's gift," he says with a pang of sadness. Izumi, after the digital world, picked up a passion for art. Painting, to be precise, because she wanted to recapture the beautifulness that was the Digital World that was in her mind before all the memories faded away. But she always complained about the quality of her paints, saying they weren't the best, they weren't letting her capture what she had in mind, because she had to settle for cheaper paints since her parents wouldn't let her splurge after every other hobby she tried went south. So Takuya had decided to sell some things and do chores around the house for money to get her some nicer paints…

"Oh." Was all the two of them could say.

It was expensive, it really was. It cost him nearly twenty thousand yen for all of that, which took him about two years to accumulate. All gone. It was all just… gone because of Lucemon.

"Well, perhaps you can ask a shop keep to hold onto it for you?" Bokomon asks and Takuya nods in agreement.

"Let's hope they don't sell it off."

Setting the gift on the floor, Takuya lets Bokomon and Neemon hop into his bag, but not before taking out his pair of goggles and putting them on his face, in hopes of being even less recognizable.

* * *

Takuya leans over a counter, coming face to face with a Toucanmon, Izumi's gift on the counter.

"What do you say, you can _hold_ it for me, right?" Takuya asks, a grin on his face as he haggles to keep the gift in his possession.

The shop was rather tiny, and there were no other Digimon in the shop. It was just Takuya, his bag, and the Toucanmon behind the counter with various knick-knacks. Knick-knacks that _looked_ familiar, but could've very easily been cheap knockoffs of real world items. Which would explain why Toucanmon thought Takuya was looking to sell the item first. An authentic, real world item. Of course it would want that, but Takuya wasn't looking to sell.

"Normally I would! Don't get me wrong, but human items are so rare, do you know how popular of a shop I'd be if I sold this? Of course, you'd get a pretty penny too."

He sighs and leans back off the counter, but grips the edge still. "But I need you to _hold_ it! I don't care about money I just need it protected. Come on, you're the last shop!"

"There's a fee for holding items this valuable," the Toucanmon says after a moment of silence. "But I doubt you have the funds to do so."

Once again, there's a sigh coming from Takuya as he lets go of the counter. "Can I sell it and then make you use my cut to hold the item?"

"No."

Much, _much_ heavier this time, Takuya sighs. "There _has_ to be something!"

"Honestly, this just makes the item more valuable. How about three thousand data?"

Takuya shakes his head. To be honest, he didn't even _know_ how the conversion between data and yen worked, but even if three thousand data was a lot, it simply wasn't worth it to him.

But he couldn't travel with it.

There really was no option. Takuya had to _go_ \- finding Cherubimon, Seraphimon, and Ofanimon was much more important right now - and having to carry both Bokomon and Neemon on top of the gift was not feasible.

"Five thousand and we have a deal," he says reluctantly. That was what the other shops offered him minimum, so he supposed he should get the minimum amount.

"Fine, I suppose so." The Toucanmon takes the wrapped package and puts it in the back, before coming back out to the counter to punch in some numbers at the cash register. Taking out the clear chips, it counts them and then puts them in a bag. "Free of charge," it says as it hands Takuya the bag. "Pleasure to do business with you."

With a blank stare, Takuya takes the bag of data chips and gives a smile that could only be described as empty. He walks out the store, passing by multiple Digimon that all turn to stare at him. Some even question him, but Takuya pays them all no mind as he presses on and keeps his bag close to him, making sure not a single soul knows Bokomon and Neemon are in the bag.

Nothing happens as he walks, and within twenty or so minutes of walking he reaches the outskirts of town - a stop on the Trailmon railroad and nothing but desert as far as Takuya could see.

"Ofanimon's castle should be on the outskirts of the Continent of Light," Bokomon says as he peaks out from the bag.

Takuya blinks momentarily, still sorta dazed, before responding. "So where's that? And for the record what continent are we on? Darkness?" he says as a tasteless joke, one that barely even got him laughing.

"Continent of Fire," Bokomon says and Takuya looks back to the town he was meters away from, watching as smoke rose up from every tall building there was. "The Continent of Light should be about a week's trip, assuming all goes well."

"Will we get food on this trip?" Neemon asks as Takuya makes his way to the Trailmon station, noting how many Digimon were there in total and the use of terminals almost like the ones at home.

"Quiet you, of course we will! Do you think we'd just starve?" Bokomon responds.

Takuya shuts the bag close a little more so the two knew to stop talking and adjusts the strap a little bit to put less weight on his shoulder. As soon as he comes to the stop, there's a prompt on the screen above, asking him if he's like to purchase a week pass to the Trailmon Express, the pass only costing fifty data - making him truly rich.

Clicking yes and digging the bag of data out of its hiding place, Takuya puts the required amount in and steps onto the platform where a Trailmon pulls in.

Stepping on, the doors shut behind him, and Takuya leans against the doors, crossing his arms as he does so.

_A week, huh? A week to find Ofanimon and deal with this Lucemon craziness. Then maybe a day to defeat it. At worse I_ _'m stuck here for eight days and missed Izumi's party by eight days, which… that can't be right? Last time we spent half a year here and missed not even a second._

_I should be fine._

_I -_ There was a tug on his oversized flannel.

Takuya looks down and sees its a small little Coronamon, probably asking the question every single Digimon on this train wanted to know the answer to but where too shy to say.

"What's in the bag? I've never seen such a huge one before," it asks, immediately tugging on the bag in a way to figure out how to open it.

"It's nothing, just human fashion."

"Then I should be able to open it, right?" the Coronamon asks, fiddling with the buckle that actually opens it.

"But you can't?" Takuya responds only to get a glare in return.

"You would be fine with me opening it then," it says, unfastening the lock and opening it as Takuya immediately pulls the flap down.

"No because there's a thing called privacy."

"What's in the bag?" another Digimon asks.

"Don't tell me we have a smuggler, probably gave free trips to some Digimon."

"Actually I heard Lucemon brought in another human, but said human escaped. Wonder if its them."

"You got it all wrong," Takuya says, immediately putting his hands up to show how right he was, just as the Coronamon flips the bag open, revealing Bokomon and Neemon poking right out.

Any credibility Takuya had as a human was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that first chapter! Fun fact: Lucemon wasn't always the villain of this fic, but that's a chapter 2 end note story. Or, if you really like this fic you can message me on twitter or tumblr to chat! My twitter is mistralsoul while my tumblr is miragethrust - I'm more active over at twitter though! Either way, hope you enjoyed it!


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